Dusk Rising
by skywriter55
Summary: Bella Swan has moved from Phoenix to Forks in hopes that she can forget a horrible attack from her past. When she gets to Washington, though, she discovers that she has run right back into the arms of vampires. How will she cope? How will the Cullen Clan react to a human who knows their secret? AU Twilight.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Welcome to my new story! I wasn't planning on starting another one anytime soon because I still have my other two/three stories to work on but I just had to make this one because the thought came to me.

So if you're a kook and you didn't read the description, this is an AU Twilight in which James attacked Bella before she came to Forks. She knows he was a vampire but couldn't tell anyone for fear of being taken as insane. She moves to Forks to escape the past of James' attack but when she sees the Cullen family, she knows that they're not human.

**CHAPTER ONE: I KNOW YOU FROM EVE**

'Perfect,' I thought to myself in despair. 'Just perfect.'

Of course, since this was Forks, Washington, it was raining. Huge fat drops poured down from the sky, wetting every imaginable surface to the point of soaking wet. I glared dully out of the windshield of my old Chevy truck. The sky wasn't the soft, fluffy type of gray that I'd expected. Instead, dark clouds rumbled threateningly overhead.

The parking lot of this high school was packed full of kids who were already in their classes. I hadn't gone in yet, though. Why hurry along my impending doom? It was the middle of the semester. Excellent. Everyone knew each other, they already had groups, and they were used to their monotonous lives. I was about to come in, the center of gossip for sure, something I detested. For now I just wanted to sit and hide in the car.

I sighed and knocked my head against the window a couple of times.

Thank God for my truck. The monster of a thing had great heaters that blew hot air directly at me from four different sources. I reveled in the heat, knowing that in a couple of moments I would have to go outside to get my new schedule for my new school; otherwise Charlie—Dad—would be mad at me for skipping. New school. Ugh. This would mean extra attention, gaping stares, and whispers about me, the new girl.

Back in Phoenix, I wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary because those kids had watched me through the awkward stages of puberty. Here, I was done growing and changing—no reason for the boys to shy away from me.

But no matter how long I stared, terrified, into the rain, I had to go in at some point. So I yanked the key out of the ignition, sadly cutting off my hot air supply, and slid out into the forty-degree weather. A shock went through my entire body as the cold pierced me. I sucked in a breath and zipped my coat up with hurried speed, as though the thin windbreaker would do any difference. This cold wasn't a windy cold: it was a chill that went right to my bones and I feared that I couldn't ever warm up again. It wasn't like I'd needed any type of heavy jacket in Phoenix.

The reminder of Phoenix made me shudder in fear and paranoia. It had been a good place to live up until the attack—

I shook my head, making my hood fall off in the process. No. I wouldn't think of the attack here, not when I was finally able to forget a little bit.

It was imperative that I took my mind off of the horrifying memories. I ran to the other side of the truck, making sure my faulty feet didn't slip out, and opened the other door so that I could grab my backpack from the seat. An orange bottle slipped out to clatter on the wet concrete.

They were my pain meds, the ones I had to stay on even now for all of the broken bones from, of course, the attack. I shoved them back in the pocket, shaking my head to clear it. Not here. I was free now.

I hurried over to one of the only buildings on this tiny campus. It was clearly marked "Admissions" and I slid inside gratefully. It was hot in this tiny room, thankfully. I let my hood fall back down and shook out my long brown hair. The busty woman sitting behind the desk gave me a warm yet blank smile.

"Hello, dear. Are you looking for someone?"

I approached the desk, unraveled the papers that I'd been strangling in my fist, and handed them to her. "I'm here for my schedule—my name is Bella Swan."

Just as I'd planned, her eyes lit up when she heard my name. I suppressed a groan. Of course this was big news. Charlie Swan's daughter was back in town, here for the rest of her junior year and all of senior year of high school. Since my dad Charlie was the chief of police in this tiny little town, anything about his life was made public and then spread around the population like wildfire. Only in a town with a population this small would this be anything exiting to talk about. My old school had six thousand kids alone, and it wasn't the only school in the county. Talk about a shrink.

The woman's smile was much more sincere this time, to my discomfort. "Of course, dear. We're so glad you're here."

_I wish I could say the same._ I smiled painfully and rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet, just wishing I could evaporate.

She chattered at me as she waited for her ancient computer to spit out my schedule. Words like "it's just so exciting" and "enjoy the variety" almost made me want to smile with the irony. People here loved to parade the fact around that Forks was exciting and rich with culture, but come on. How true could that really be?

Finally a white paper whined out of the printer. She grabbed it, fanned it a couple of times so it could dry, and gave it over with another tooth-baring grin. "You have a nice day now."

"Thank you." I made off as soon as I could without being rude. At least the people here were nice.

It wasn't long before I opened the double doors of the main building and was shocked by the nasal sound of a bell ringing through the dim halls. An instant later, the rooms exploded to reveal kids swirling around, yelling, banging lockers, and laughing. The sounds made me cringe; loud noises still made my head hurt.

Even though this school was small, I had no idea where to go. Apparently that was glaringly obvious. I didn't miss the stares that accompanied my presence. I was used to that, even in Phoenix: I wasn't one of the usual tan blondes that strutted the desert. Instead, my pale skin and raven hair contrasted against each other and apparently made for quite the sight.

Something else different was my small, sculpted dancer's body. I wasn't that short, about 5'7, and my body was all muscle. Put all this together and that was me. And for whatever ungodly reason, it made people stare. My easily provoked blush came out in full force now.

A boy appeared next to me as if from thin air. He had pale skin, carefully gelled blond hair, and striking blue eyes. "Hi!" he blurted with an eager smile. I noticed that he wasn't too much taller than I and it made him less intimidating in spite of his overzealous approach.

"Hello," I said carefully, meeting his gaze.

"I'm Mike Newton. You're Isabella Swan, right?"

Grr. I hated my full name; it was too old-fashioned for this generation. "Just Bella." I gripped his hand and shook. His handshake was much more vigorous than mine.

"Do you want to know where to go?" he asked, grabbing my schedule without my answer. Frankly, I was too shy to take it back and so I stood awkwardly while he scanned it. He grinned at me when he handed it back.

"Excellent. We both have lunch this hour. I'll show you the cafeteria."

I frowned. Lunch already? I could have sworn that I'd only stayed in my truck for an hour, but then I checked the round white clock on the wall. Darn. It was already twelve. Time flies when you can't tell the hour because the sun is covered all day.

He weaved through a few halls (this school really was tiny compared to my high school in Phoenix) and held the door open for me, rather politely, I thought. The cafeteria was pretty usual, holding about four hundred people at a time. Mike led me through the line. He grabbed so much food that I wondered if his stomach was a bottomless pit. I, on the other hand, grabbed a bottle of lemonade and a salad. My appetite was leached today.

Mike went right over to a round table mixed of both guys and girls who were chatting within the group. "Guys," he announced loudly. They all turned their eyes on me so that I had to fight my instinct to shrink back. "This is Bella Swan, the new girl."

Lovely. The new girl.

I set my tray down and slid my backpack off next to a girl with dark hair and glasses who had the kindest face at the table. She smiled and offered me her hand; I liked her handshake. It was calm and measured. "I'm Angela."

"Nice to meet you," I said sincerely.

A chorus of "hi" and "new girl!" rang out from the girls and guys, respectively. I pointedly ignored the attention from the males and smiled shyly at the girls, trying to convey that I wasn't a threat. They got the message loud and clear and so their eyes grew less aggressive. It was from experience that I knew girls didn't like new girls who boys ogled. It was imperative that I assert my place in the bottom of the pack.

"Where'd you come from?" asked a girl with corn silk blonde hair and pale eyes.

"Phoenix," I answered, popping the top of my lemonade and taking a measured sip. Here we went with the Q-and-A.

Another one of the girls had light brown hair curled into bouncy waves. "Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be, like, really tan?" She seemed nice enough; a ditzy vibe was coming from her. But her voice was pleasant, and so I did not judge her.

Stereotypes killed. "Yeah. Maybe that's why they kicked me out," I cracked in a deadpan voice. Everyone else at the table burst into guffaws except for the girl who'd asked the question. She joined in after a while, but it was obvious from her blank stare that she didn't know what we were laughing about. I felt bad immediately: my intention hadn't been to be rude.

"They really kicked you out? What'd you do?" One of the boys winked at me, like he thought I'd been working as a hooker.

_Well, you see, some vicious creature attacked me in my ballet studio and I couldn't tell anyone about who attacked me because they'd think I was insane. Yes, I was almost killed by an undead creature of the night._

Keep it light, Bella.

"My mom and dad are divorced and I wanted to spend time with him before I went to college," I fibbed. I sucked at lying, but this one was so rehearsed that it was believable.

"Chief Swan is your dad?" asked Mike, looking crushed. The other boys did too and they immediately stopped staring like hungry dogs. I hid my laugh. Having Charlie as my father certainly had its perks.

The excitement of my presence faded after a few minutes, thankfully, and I could just sit and let the conversation roll around me as I ate most of my salad. The other girl Angela was just as shy and she sat silently. We'd be good friends, Angela and I.

The others soon went away for a snowball fight. I whipped my head to the window, shocked. I'd never seen snow except for on the TV. Oh yes, it was true. Thick clumps were falling out of the sky, taking place of the rain. I tried to keep the grimace off of my face. Disgusting.

"Wanna join, Bella?" Mike looked eager.

I shook my head. "Count me out, thanks. I hate the cold."

He nodded with another grin. "See you in class!"

I dipped my head and he was off, holding a binder as a shield. Soon I saw them literally packing the snow—with their BARE hands—and throwing it at each other. Was that really fun? How was that possible?

Angela stayed with me too, swirling a bottle cap around her finger. She turned to me with a knowing glint in her eyes. "You don't like attention much." It wasn't a question.

But at least she knew. "Not at all," I said with a refuel chuckle. "It's my least favorite thing."

She grinned at me, still shy but very sincere. "That's what makes you different from them. I like it."

I smiled back and then dropped my gaze to my own bottle cap. I thought that it might have been strange or awkward that we didn't talk, but instead of being uncomfortable, the silence seemed mutual. I relaxed.

The cafeteria was still full except for our table. I noticed, though, a portion of the room where kids weren't swarming. I craned my neck to see five figures sitting alone, heads only turned to each other, trays full but not eating. I frowned. A queasy feeling churned up in my stomach.

"Who are they?" I jerked my chin in the direction of the strange table.

Angela seemed to know who I was talking about without lifting her head. She kept her eyes down and said, "They're the Cullen family."

"Hmm." I fought against the weird sense of foreboding. "Have they been here long?"

Angela shook her head. "No, they moved here a couple of years ago with their foster parents."

I nodded noncommittally, trying to seem less intense than I actually was. "What are their names?"

She finally looked up, needing to identify them for me. She mumbled out of the side of her mouth and didn't point to stay discreet. "The big dark-haired guy is named Emmett, and he's with the picture-perfect blonde, Rosalie. Then the guy with blonde hair is Jasper and the little one is Alice. The bronze one is Edward."

Those were really strange names, names that had fallen out of style like mine. Maybe their parents were as kooky as mine.

But then the spiky-haired Alice looked up, meeting my eyes across the crowded room. My heart almost stopped. Chills ran from the crown of my head to the back of my heels as the memory of the attack ran fresh through my mind.

_He stalked towards me, baring his teeth in a grin that soon just became a huge set of fangs. I knew that turning my back on him was stupid, but I had to run for the exit. Panic took over and I fled._

_ He appeared in front of me, still grinning, and punched my chest with a force that couldn't be human. I was stunned on the ballet floor but still managed to turn around and keep trying for the exit on my hands and knees._

_ "You do smell nice," his voice mused from behind me, twisting my stomach. "Floral, somehow…"_

_ I tried to ignore his manic musings but something stepped down on my leg and I screeched, turning back to cradle it. He was somehow right behind me. Christ, but he was fast. He wasn't wearing heavy shoes, but my leg sure was broken._

_ I'd never been so terrified in my entire life. I'd thought that he was a serial killer: that he would just kill me and go. That was the thrill for him._

_ But no. The thrill was in the torture before death. I saw it in his eyes. I saw in in his lethal stance, the stance of a hunter locked on his prey. _

_ And then his teeth sunk into my wrist._

The rest of my memory was full of pain and broken mirrors and blood. But the most important thing was my memory of what the man looked like.

His skin was white and porcelain. His face was completely perfect, like he'd been sculpted. He could be both completely still and stunningly quick. His eyes were black, unbelievably so.

This girl Alice had porcelain white skin, so perfect that it was hard to look at. She and her siblings were sitting still—much too still. It seemed like they were forcing their movements. She had the blackest eyes I'd ever seen. And the awareness in those eyes was far too much a coincidence.

I felt like I was falling down a dark well. This was exactly why I'd come to Forks in the first place: to escape the past. My home had been put in danger by that otherworldly man who'd almost taken my life. Was I going insane, or was my hunch correct? Could I really be that much of a danger magnet? Maybe my hunch was just the product of being overly paranoid. Maybe I was imagining that white skin that would be freezing cold to the touch. Maybe the kids in the room weren't giving that table a large berth because their subconscious instincts were screaming at them to run; it was simply the flow of the room.

But when the so-called Alice's eyes widened and her expression changed into one that was much less pleasant, I faltered. I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest as she turned her head sharply and the bronze-haired boy started to look at me.

I yanked my gaze away, breathing like I'd just danced a marathon in spite of the faulty bone in my left leg.

No, I decided with chilling finality. My denial was far crazier than what I thought to be the truth. I rubbed the cold crescent scar on my wrist.

There were vampires in Forks.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN:** Okay, that was the first chapter. For those wondering:

James already attacked Bella in the studio—someone saved her but we don't know who it was yet. And because she was attacked by James, she knows the Cullen's' secret. Aha! More drama to come.

I'll update soon! Maybe even tomorrow or this weekend.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I'm updating more frequently than I normally would because, like I've said on my profile and other stories, there have been extreme personal matters in my family of late. However, on the tiny bright side, that lets me write more because FanFiction is all about escaping the real world, is it not? Lots of love.

Here's Alice's view of meeting Bella. Of course, she's the little psychic that we all love, and you can bet that she sees that Bella knows what they are. How will the Cullen clan react to a threat to their family.

Disclaimer: I FORGOT DISCLAIMER FOR A WHILE SORRY but nothing belongs to me. Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

**CHAPTER TWO: I SEE HER**

I sighed, glancing at Jasper. I wondered how he was doing now; we hadn't hunted in weeks. All of our eyes were black and we all thirsted terribly, but he always had the hardest time. How long had it even been since we hunted? I decided to ask Edward if anything was wrong.

_How's he doing, Edward?_

I loved doing this, talking to my brother Edward without words. He was one of the gifted: he could read minds. If I wanted to say something that only he would hear, I just had to ask in my mind and he would hear and respond. We were the freaks of our world because we had special talents and gifts.

Edward could read minds. He could read anyone's mind at any time, so long as they were in the same vicinity as him. Even though he could only hear what a person was thinking at one specific time, it was still very formidable. Jasper could feel the emotions of those around him. His gift put an enormous personal strain on him, because when someone was upset or angry, he felt those emotions and could either control them or reflect them. I myself had a pretty significant gift: I could see the future. Even though my gift was more volatile (the future changed all the time; no future was ever, ever set in stone) we had a bond because we were the freaks.

Edward lifted one shoulder in a shrug in response to my question. I glowered at him across the table as Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett bantered.

_Come on. Tell me. Is he planning anything?_

Edward threw me a look and then shook his head. The look on his face said, "Of course not."

I settled back in the hard plastic chair and regarded the table with affection. This was the "family" that I lived in, even though I wasn't biologically related to any of them. I had two brothers named Emmett and Edward. Rosalie was my only sister, and Jasper was my husband of many years. Sure, we walked Forks high school as seventeen-year olds, but I was actually born in 1901 and immortalized in 1920.

Yes, I was a vampire. We all were.

After going to high school for countless years over and over, we got a little sick of it. There was no new information for us to glean. There was no new way for us to actually learn, because we all knew all that there was to know. Personally, I was in the highest level of Spanish that this school had to offer. My accent and skills far exceeded the teacher's and she knew it. Little did she know that I'd spend fifteen years in Spain. So, needless to say, the teachers left us alone for the most part; so did the rest of the students.

We were ostracized from the human community due to all of these reasons. That was why the kids didn't like us. We were too graceful, too perfect, too smart. Their instincts told them to run away and run away they did.

However, the illusion of normal life made us seem more human than we ever could otherwise. None of us drank human blood anymore, because it made us feel like soulless demons. Instead we subsided on the blood of animals to keep us alive because human food would not sustain us.

Edward chuckled at what he heard in my head, probably thinking me conceited. I shot him a fierce glower when he turned back to me.

"Hey, hey!" Emmett, my big bear of a brother, leaned in to us, causing us all to lean in too. As though we'd ever have a problem with our extra-heightened hearing. "New girl's asking about the mysterious Cullen family."

Jasper and I sat back together, because this was not new news. Everyone who was even relatively new to Forks gossiped about us for two weeks, until they found out that we never went close to anyone but each other. Then the talk died down for a while and we could just relax.

Rosalie looked bored. "What new girl, Em?" Even though her tone was scathing, we all knew she loved him to death. She was married to Emmett like I was to Jasper. Edward was the odd man out.

He hissed at me when he heard that, eyes darkening even further. "Keep your thoughts to yourself."

"Sorry!" I muttered, not happy that I'd wounded his ego.

Emmett stared, looking hurt that we weren't more interested in whatever conversation he was listening in on. "This is important," he whined. He was just like a big child sometimes.

"Go on, then, Emmett," Jasper chided. "Tell us why this time is different than any time."

"Wait!" Emmett punched Edward in the shoulder. He did it soft enough that it didn't hurt Edward, but if Emmett had used that force on a human, their shoulder would have been blown off. Edward looked up at him, bored, like he was used to Em's tricks. "Get a read on her first. Just to make sure." Emmett, child that he was, wanted to hear how much the new girl wanted to know about us.

Edward sighed and looked back down at the table, spinning the bottle top from his unconsumed lemonade around his index finger at so fast a speed that it blurred. "Where is she?"

"She's the one next to Angela Weber over in the middle of the caf."

Edward focused hard. A crease appeared between his brows a moment later. "Honestly, Emmett. Where is she sitting?"

Emmett met our gazes like he thought Edward was crazy. "I just told you."

Edward's head shot up. He stared at me, confused. "No one is sitting next to Angela Weber." He whipped his head around and stared at her, flabbergasted.

"Edward?" Jasper was confused like the rest of us.

His mouth dropped open as he sat. "I can't read her at all."

We all froze for a minute, stunned. Edward had found the one person whose mind he could not read.

This was completely unprecedented. No matter where we went, Edward could read anyone in any place at any time. Vampires and humans alike were easy for him to read and it was natural. His talent was impenetrable and had been ever since he'd been immortalized.

"Are you serious?" Jasper leaned forward, concerned and frightened. I knew that his Southern-general roots were in action now. His eyes showed that he was planning for routs of attack should this human prove to be a threat.

Edward looked back behind him at the girl again, glaring at her like it was her fault. "I'm completely serious."

Rosalie smirked.

"Awesome!" Emmett boomed, smacking a hand on Edward's back. "Stumped by a human."

"Shh!" Rosalie and I hissed. Our secret could not be blown.

"You don't understand," Edward snapped, looking quickly to ascertain that there was, in fact, a girl still there. And there was. "It's like there's blank space where her thoughts should be. Like her mind is completely empty."

Rosalie spared a glance at this girl and saw nothing special. "Maybe it is empty space," she said disdainfully, tossing her flowing blonde locks behind her shoulder. I rolled my eyes. Rosalie, bless her, was one bitch of a woman. Though she wanted desperately to be human again, her stunning beauty was not something she would easily give up.

When we changed, we were made biologically perfect. This was part of the lure so that our prey—our natural prey: humans—would come easily to us. Our faces were so stunning to humans that they gravitated near whether they liked it or not.

Emmett smirked. "Take a look at her, one at a time. Just check out the look on her face! She's terrified," he guffawed.

We all did as he asked. Edward peeked again, Jazz looked, Rosalie spared a precious glance. I went last.

When my eyes met the human's, my mind's eye exploded.

I hissed in a breath and my fingers gripped the table hard. The rest of the group was conferring about exactly how scared the human girl looked, but at the moment, my visions were dive-bombing me at full force.

_I saw the girl, refusing to shake my hand in Spanish, her entire body shying away from me in the seat._

_ I saw her delicate arm as she reached to cradle the books she'd dropped and I handed to her. There, on her white skin, was an even whiter scar that was in the shape of teeth._

_ I saw her walking arm-in-arm with me through the halls. We giggled like giddy schoolgirls. _

_ Last, I saw her with Edward in the meadow. The day was sunny and so his true nature was out in full force. To my shock, she reached out to brush his tangled hair away from his face, trusting, sure._

To say that I was stunned didn't begin to cover it. But I knew that I couldn't tell anyone, not even Edward. So I quickly hid the thoughts in the back of my mind so he couldn't access them. The rest of them were still talking and arguing playfully, unaware that our lives had just potentially changed forever. It was only about five minutes later that Edward tried to access my thoughts and found them barred. It was hard to focus on other things while keeping my thoughts private, but it was imperative that I did. I saw what would happen if they knew: Jasper and Emmett would assert that the human was a threat and they wouldn't hesitate to attack and kill her.

Edward cocked his head and broke the conversation. "Alice, what's wrong?" He knew that I was hiding. Once more he tried to break into my thoughts.

I just shook my head and refused to answer. My jaw clicked shut. It really hurt to shut my mind off like this, because it was totally unnatural. But extreme times called for extreme measures.

Edward frowned. "What are you hiding?"

The others swung their heads to look at me, but I couldn't answer them just yet. Their eyes creased in worry for whatever it was, and I knew that they were imagining the worst.

Edward tried to get in again.

"Stop it right now," I hissed. I had to keep this to myself.

"I can't turn it off," he protested innocently, but he stopped.

"Hey!" protested Emmett. "Are you guys having a conversation without us?"

"If it was going to threaten us, I'd tell you." That was all I could tell them at the moment. Jasper opened his mouth, presumably to ask a question, and I cut him off. "I'll tell you if it will involve you."

They were all extremely confused.

This was torture. I had to go to that class right now and meet this human girl who was now a part of our lives. Otherwise I might just faint. So I said abruptly, "Excuse me," as I scraped back from the table and walked quickly. I felt the others' concern from behind me but I would not focus on them right now. Other things were more pressing.

The bell rang loudly, making me cringe as students filled the halls. I really needed to hunt. My throat was set into flames as warm bodies packed the walkway and brushed so close to me. And then _the girl_ passed me. She didn't see me, in a rush though she was, and therefore she didn't realize that it was me her arm brushed against. Wow. Her blood was even sweeter than I'd thought it would be. My throat burned and I frowned, rubbing my neck discreetly. Sitting next to her would be no easy feat.

But I had to know.

When I found my seat and sat down, I lay my head down on the desk to wait. Even though I'd been excited that we would have a human friend, it quickly became reality that it was dangerous for both her and us. The so-called police of the vampire world didn't allow humans to know that we existed. Otherwise they became food or one of us. So what could I do to protect the spilling of her innocent blood?

My family would not be pleased by my visions. The visions of her with the rest of us kept changing, but what didn't change was the fact that she had a vampire bite scar on her wrist. How many humans had we ever met who had bites?

The answer, of course, was none.

It would also be infinitely dangerous for her to be around a family of vampires. We managed to be around humans daily, but that was only on our best days. She could not know about us… But if she already did, then she would know what to do, but if she was bitten, then she wouldn't know we weren't harmful to humans. My mind was absolutely spinning, even though I didn't have to hide my mind from Edward anymore.

But wait. In the visions where she was with us, we were all so happy. We revolved around her like she was the sun. It was in the stars, clearly, that she would be with us. I would make it happen. I had to. Even though I couldn't see much past today, I kept getting flashes of what she would do in our lives. And I wanted it.

My decision solidified the future. She would be with us. And if she was to be a part of our family, then no one could hurt her. I let myself smile. I had a new sister.

Ten minutes later I was bouncing up and down in my seat, ridiculously eager to meet her and get to know her. But she didn't show up. I frowned as kid after kid filed in; none of them was the one I was looking for. I'd just seen her in the hall. Even though I was trying not to spy on the future, I looked ahead. No, she would be here. She was just lost. I giggled to myself and shook my head. Humans had no sense of direction.

The bell rang. Other students made a commotion and threw themselves in their seats so that they wouldn't be counted late. And still the girl didn't show up. How late could she be? I wasn't even paying attention to what the teacher said for about ten more minutes. Even after a hundred years alive, these ten minutes felt like the longest of my whole life.

Finally, the door swung open and the appealing scent that flowed in alerted me that this was she. Like all of the other nosey humans in the room, I turned around in my seat to see her with the biggest grin on my face. I was pretty startled by her appearance.

She was very, very pretty, especially for a human. She had a pale heart-shaped face with the widest brown eyes I'd ever seen. Long brown hair waved down her back and a huge jacket covered her thin frame. When she swung the door open and saw that we were all staring in rapt attention, her skin colored with a bright pink blush.

All the boys in the room made appreciative noises from the backs of their throats and all of their eyes met like they were conferring. I exactly knew the minds of these base teenage boys. I rolled my eyes, though I was just as interested in her in a much different way.

But Ms. Goff wasn't as impressed. "Would you like a guide to your seat?"

"Sorry," the girl peeped as she weaved around the chairs and tossed her bag down next to the only open desk: on my right side. I could barely keep myself in my seat at this point. I was so excited.

Ms. Goff simply stood there and the girl didn't notice, as she was taking off the big jacket she wore. I was turned sideways in my seat, staring inappropriately at the girl with rapt enthusiasm. She finally looked up and met Ms. Goff's gaze.

"And who are you?"

"I'm Bella Swan."

Murmurs went up about the room. Everyone knew the name because her father was the Chief of the police force. Ms. Goff's irritated expression melted like snow and revealed a pleasant face underneath. "Oh! Miss Swan! Welcome to Forks."

Bella smiled blandly and dipped her head slightly in thanks. The commotion died down at once. I almost laughed at the boys, whose faces fell the instant her surname was voiced.

The teacher proceeded to tell us to partner up and work on a verb exercise. He read off all the names and I was positive he would put me with the new girl. She just had to.

"Alice Cullen and Isabella Swan, you'll be paired together. Get working, everyone!"

Yes! I turned to see her and she also turned towards me. But when her eyes flitted over her face, her body shied away from me. Her heart rate ramped up and shock glowed in her eyes.

Wow. She really did know. Did that mean that this girl would have to be killed? No human ever knew about us.

No, I didn't want that for anyone. It wasn't her fault that she knew. I wouldn't punish her for something out of her control.

But just because she knew didn't mean I had to confirm her fears. Maybe I could throw her off the trail before it was too late.

"Hi!" I bleated carefully in a pleasant voice. I extended my hand toward her to shake. That was an acceptable human maneuver. "I'm Alice."

She just sat, staring at me, eyes flicking over me. Her muscles stayed rigid and her mouth didn't move.

Huh. There was no getting out of this, apparently. I couldn't get away from the fact that she knew, but she did nothing I did would get that away. But I could still butter her up enough that she didn't run screaming.

Okay, damage control. Be normal. I drew on my decades of practice walking among humans to force my charade even further. "No?" I asked, grinning playfully.

She extended her own hand very carefully and placed it in mine. I shook gently, allowing her movements to be stronger than mine so that she wouldn't realize anything. Her brows drew together, revealing a crease between her eyes just like Edward. How odd. I grinned even wider.

"I'm Bella," she answered in a nice voice. Even though she smelled terrified, she wasn't rude to me. She flashed one last searching look at me before turning her shoulders back and wrestling a big binder out of her backpack. It was old with age and worn papers fluttered out.

"How many papers are in there?" I laughed without meaning to.

She looked up at me and her cheeks colored pink again. She was a nice-looking girl, really, and her humility made me like her even more. Many of the girls in this school were concerned with makeup and boys and trivial things; they even had the nerve to flirt with my brothers and my husband.

It seemed like Bella wasn't one of those people. It was evident from her bashful entrance that she didn't like attention even though she warranted it just because she had a likeable charisma.

She started to answer my question, yanking me from my thoughts. If she knew what was going on in my head, she would think I was insane.

"I've been taking Spanish since I was little, but I suck at grammar. I keep all the papers I've ever done." She tilted the binder towards me and I leaned closer like a normal person was to look, though my eyes didn't need the close proximity. There really were pages upon pages of the stuff, all written in the same clumsy yet endearing scrawl.

It was clear that she was smart. She was in AP Spanish as a junior, like me, and only the most advanced seniors ever tested into this class. I peeked at the schedule she left on the desk and saw that she was also in Advanced Biology. With Edward. I frowned. That wouldn't prove to be good. God knew what would happen there.

But we eventually had to get on with it. I reluctantly passed her a worksheet and we plodded through it together. I knew every answer, of course, and surprisingly she did too. The other kids were having a hard time though. Two had their laptops open to Google Translate and numerous others had dictionaries open beneath their tables.

When we finished, there was still more than half the class left. Bella stealthily slid her eyes over to me. She seemed really uncomfortable that I was sitting here staring at her. Maybe now would be the time for conversation.

Once we started talking, we didn't stop.

The hour-long class passed in a blur. This human girl was absolutely fascinating to me and I even got her to laugh a couple of times. We got along perfectly, like best friends should. It was kind of a downer that I couldn't tell her that we would be best friends yet. No one knew but me and even though I knew what would happen, I had to let things take their course. It was so frustrating.

We'd gotten through our homework for tomorrow and still had time to talk; she knew how to carry on a conversation without taking over or letting me talk about myself the whole time. I found out that she was from Phoenix, even though her face grew terse and she didn't want to elaborate. Clue one.

"Where are _you_ from?" Bella deflected the question back at me.

I launched into my normal story. "I was born in Biloxi the same year as you, but my parents and sister died in a car crash when I was very young. Edward, Emmett and I survived together."

Bella made a sympathetic noise in the back of her throat. Her bright brown eyes glimmered with sadness for me. "That's horrible."

I nodded and carefully talked about my real family, my vampire family. "My adoptive mother and father adopted me and Emmett and Edward when we were nine, and we've been with them ever since."

She smiled. Compassionate, too. "They must be wonderful people."

"The best," I insisted sincerely. I remembered something trivial that I knew about her family: Chief Swan was her father.

"Are your parents divorced?" I blurted before I could stop myself. I slapped a palm over my mouth as her eyes shot up. She looked startled by the random words. "Sorry, that was rude," I mumbled in apology.

She laughed at my chagrin and shook her head, causing her scent to fan out over me. I was thrilled that my scatterbrained mouth didn't insult her but my emotions came crashing down when the smell of her blood hit me. Shoot. I gritted my teeth together and kept a normal expression. I had to hunt tonight if I were to keep talking to her… Which I definitely was. Maybe Edward or Jazz was up for going out.

"Don't worry about it. They divorced when I was really little."

Poor girl. Divorces usually tore the children apart, even if they were young when it happened. I examined the girl in front of me for signs of deep internal sadness. There was nothing. She had sparkling eyes, healthy skin, no secrets behind her gaze. How strange. But I had to stop staring into her eyes like I was falling in love. She was already too freaked out by me as it stood.

I nodded thoughtfully as though in response to her words. She spoke carefully then, and something that flickered behind her eyes told me everything her words didn't. "I lived with my mother in Phoenix for a long time, but something happened and I had to come here." The blank look, the way her muscles clenched, the way her mouth pressed together told me that the problem was a vampire. That was why she was here now.

And apparently the reminder didn't warm her to me. She turned back around and stuffed the paper in her already-full binder, pretty face closed off. I frowned. Surely the reminder didn't cancel the small bond we'd just built? Darn it! We were supposed to be best friends! I almost wanted to blurt it out right then, but it was obvious that I couldn't. I nearly growled.

The bell rang, breaking us both out of the sudden awkward silence. I gathered my things slowly, sad that the class was over. This fascinating girl was easy to talk to and she was interesting; I was never allowed to make a relationship with any humans. This one, I knew, would be different. She was special. Kind of like us, but in a much different way.

That was another reminder of how important she was. Of all the thousands, maybe millions of people that we'd seen in our lives, she was the single that Edward couldn't read. That hadn't happened before, and even though I knew it irritated him to no end, it was special.

Bella also grabbed her things. Her movements were now agitated, seeing as she had to get to her next class. She swept up from the chair in a startlingly graceful movement, but when she turned to go, her toe caught on the leg of the chair and her upper body jerked to keep from falling. Her books thudded to the floor, thankfully not shooting papers everywhere.

Of course, I could have caught the books if I'd wanted to, but that would show my inhuman speed. Instead I leaned down and gathered them in a neat stack. She stood stiffly as I reached up to hand them to her.

"Thank you," she said sincerely as she took them from me, carefully avoiding contact with my icy hand. Man, she was really afraid to touch me again.

There it was. Her sleeve pulled up from the movement of her extended arm and I saw it, there on her left hand. A white, slightly glimmering mark in the shape of vampire teeth. It was unmistakable. I froze. I was so stunned that I didn't even bid her goodbye when she swept from the room.

Even though the hard evidence was right in front of me, it made no sense. How could she sit in a room next to a vampire and not fear for her life? She'd grown very at ease with me as the class went on. And, more puzzlingly, how was she even alive? Vampires did not bite humans for fun. They bit to drink. And once you start, you don't stop. Bella Swan should not have been alive. If a vampire had truly gone to drink from her she should either be dead or one of us. But she was still glaringly human.

I had to speak with Carlisle about this sooner or later; but our father's philosophy was that the family should be concerned with all matters. He would not hide his mind from Edward and then the whole family would know. That was probably not the best thing right now, not until I found out more about Isabella Swan.

It was the only way to find out: from Carlisle. But God damn it, he refused to keep matters from the rest of the family.

No, I decided again. I had to work solo for now. That was the only way.

I frowned. I didn't like to hide things from my family and especially not Jasper. He knew that I was lying about something and I knew that hurt him. However, other matters were more important than worrying about my family's feelings. This was technically a matter of life and death.

I stood up and wove around the humans to get alone into the hallway. My next class was a study period. Unfortunately, Jasper and Rosalie both had this with me. I would have to avoid them if I were to map out my plan. We usually met up in the library, so I cut away from there and shoved out the main doors of the school. The sky was still dumping water: it would stop raining at six forty-eight tonight.

I had an hour and twenty minutes all to myself with no nosy family members or mind-readers. Just a solid eighty minutes with my thoughts and visions alone. This rarely happened, and usually I would just lay back and shut my mind off. This time I actually had something to do.

"Come on, Cullen," I muttered to myself as I threw off my backpack outside in the pouring rain. I sat myself on a secluded bench and held my head in my hands. "Time to plan."

**END OF CHAPTER**

**AN: **Thanks for reading, all. As you know, reviews really help me along with the story. Thoughts? Wishes for where the story will go? Let me know! Reviews really help the story along and I think you all should review; I don't know if you like it or not unless you tell me. Please 3.


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